Gillibrand launches TV ads in bid to stay on debate stage

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is launching TV ads in Iowa and New Hampshire beginning on Saturday to boost her chances of remaining on the debate stage, her campaign said Friday.

The New York senator, who had $8.2 million in cash on hand as of June 30, will spend more than $1 million to air the ad on broadcast TV, cable and digital, according to the campaign.

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The 30-second ad challenges viewers to “imagine a leader driven by compassion, brave enough to take on the impossible, who looks beyond herself to do what’s best — for us.”

Gillibrand’s ad comes amid a field-wide push to qualify for the next series of primary debates. Thus far, only nine of the two-dozen candidates have qualified for the third debate, in September, according to a POLITICO analysis. They are former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, South Bend (Ind.) Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

In order to qualify for the third debate, candidates must — by Aug. 28 — register 2 percent in at least four public surveys from pollsters approved by the Democratic National Committee and receive campaign contributions from 130,000 unique donors, with at least 400 donors in 20 different states. Of the 16 polls that count for debate qualification, Gillibrand has only received 2 percent once: a Monmouth University poll in Iowa released on Thursday.

POLITICO reported this week that the same criteria apply to the fourth debate in October, but the qualification period will extend until two weeks prior to that debate, details of which have yet to be announced. That would give candidates who fail to qualify for the third debate next month an additional few weeks, at minimum, to meet the thresholds for the fourth debate and will likely lead to the more candidates appearing in October than in September.

In a press release announcing the ad, the Gillibrand camp said it is nearing the donor threshold — saying she has more than 100,000 unique donors — and expects the ad buy to help her gain support in the two key early states. She needs three additional 2-percent scores.

Gillibrand joins Harris — who has gone up only in Iowa thus far — in launching her first TV ad this week. Billionaire Tom Steyer is spending millions in TV and digital ads in an effort to collect the polls and donors to make his first debate appearance. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland have also aired TV ads since joining the race.